Welcome! A very valid question! I didn’t mix with syringes for long but it didn’t even enter my head to query that! I’d say that the blunt needle tip makes it more than 2.2ml - I suppose you could take off the tip after pulling up the liquid if you wanted more specific measurements.

Buy scales…you’ll never look back

Edit: wouldn’t worry too much though…it’s only gonna be 0.01/2 ish ml out with the blunt tip I would imagine

I’m going to buy scales for sure at some point but for now I’m using this method:
I have sealed a few syringes with the rubber from the plunger. On a 1ml syringe you can pull the rubber off the plunger and stick it into the syringe the wrong way all the way down to the bottom. It takes 0.1ml off the capacity but if it’s more than 0.9ml you just add it up. the tricky bit is just to get the liquid out of the syringe. I cut the “wings” off the syringe so it fits into my 30ml bottles with a tight fit. Then you just shake it a bit so it can drip into the bottle. Same method works with bigger syringes. Just stick some clear tape on so that the numbers won’t rub off.
The advantage is that you can drip from the bottle into the syringe without using a blunt needle.

Why wouldn’t you mix without scales? I mean ok, it’s much easier but good scales are not cheap and i don’t see a reason against mixing with syringes or measuring cylinders. It’s definitely precise enough.

You can get a scale for $20 or less that will work just fine. My first diy was syringes, never again. I still use pipettes unfortunately since many of my flavors don’t have dropper bottles but I don’t measure in the pipettes, just on the scale.

I don’t trust these cheap scales, especially when it’s under 5g. We’ve done some testing a few years ago and it was not good. The ones I’ve seen also had a really slow response time and were limited to 200g or something. Maybe it’s better now after a few years. Any recommendations?

I would not even attempt it by volume. Not accurate at all, I use scales for all kinds of things. Way too finicky otherwise, I can make a batch in like 3minutes tops too easy. To me there isn’t even another way to do it.

A slightly inaccurate scale would be way more accurate then doing by volume. I have the aws-100 it costs $10.60 I have the calibration weight it has been perfect every time. You can check by weighing coins. Yes they vary, the coins not the readings. If you do say 20 and then check the average it’ll be super close. Seriously you think you can do volume more accurately then a scale with say an error margin of 0.05% no way. Your kidding yourself, nope wrong mate.

Well, let’s put it this way, I am confident enough with “my” syringe method. The 1ml syringes can measure 0.01ml. I don’t claim you can get it right to the 1/100ml but you can see it. If you carefully drip into a syringe and make sure everything goes into the bottle you will be well within an area where it doesn’t matter, even on a 10ml batch. The only thing you can’t do is using needles to get the liquid into the syringe. Throw away the plunger, seal the hole and drip into the syringe so there are no hidden quantities in the needle or elsewhere.

I am new to dyi with a whopping 2 months experience but I switched to mixing by weight right away. The scale is much quicker for me but the big deal is the nice big digital readout on the scale. My tired old eyes really appreciate that.

I tried 4 of every coin listed here and all were different on the scales all with in 200th gram the 20p for instance ranged from 4.99g to 5.02g.
So I would imagine for the purpose of weighing my concentrates that’s accurate enough for me, if they had come out at 6g or 4g then that would be another story.

As for my method I just drop straight into 100ml glass lab mixing jar on my scales for concentrates and drop using a pipette for the nicotine as its safer not having to handle nicotine and risk spillage, and just dispose the pippette after I finish mixing.

I tried 4 of every coin listed here and all were different on the scales all with in 200th gram the 20p for instance ranged from 4.99g to 5.02g.

Exactly what you would expect from an accurate scale. Nice work Gollum.

I’d put a million bucks on me and my $10.60 scale vs whatever method. I don’t even know how they do it, because I never have. Are they using the lines on the syringes and pipettes. Wow. Make that 10 million.

Anyways no offence, but want to reassure anyone reading that scales are fine. Even cheap ones with auto-off. It’s never a problem for me. As you have read. Just plain easy too. Honestly, silly to do it any other way you should be in just waiting for my scales mode at worst. Lol. Get the aws-100 if you can’t afford anything more. It will be fine. Stop being stubborn and come over to the Jedi side. Hah.

If scientists in labs and doctor’s injecting us full of stuff use syringes and pipettes for measuring, then I’m sure it’s fine to use them to measure your e-liquid ingredients. When I was in biotech we were told not to over push the syringe or try to get the last little bit out because they are made to take into account the bit left in the needle. Take that FWIW. No idea what kinda syringes you’re using, but we never used any kind of extra force or tricks to get the last drop out of the needle.

That being said, I wouldn’t go back to syringes and pipettes if you paid me. Clean up is 10K times better with a scale (because it’s practically nonexistent) and it just seems faster and less hassle to me. I use a ‘cheap’ scale and it works just fine for my needs. Anything less than 0.03 g (weight of an avg drop in my experience) doesn’t seem to register, but I know that and take that into account when I weigh. If I could afford a lab scale, I’d love one, but I can’t and I love what I have so I’m not sweating it. I have the etekcity pocket jewelry whatever scale and the AWS lb 501 and there are benefits and drawbacks to both. The etekcity is more compact, lighter, and has the ability to turn the auto shutoff OFF, but the AWS plugs in, feels like a higher quality build, and is probably (haven’t tested) more accurate.

This is DIY e-liquid; it’s not rocket science or breakthrough medical research. Either way you go, you’re gonna be fine as long as you’re careful and consistent. It’s just what works for you. And isn’t that the beauty of DIY in the end anyway?

If scientists in labs and doctor’s injecting us full of stuff use syringes and pipettes for measuring, then I’m sure it’s fine to use them to measure your e-liquid ingredients. When I was in biotech we were told not to over push the syringe or try to get the last little bit out because they are made to take into account the bit left in the needle. Take that FWIW. No idea what kinda syringes you’re using, but we never used any kind of extra force or tricks to get the last drop out of the needle.

Every tool for every job. Pipettes & syringes have their place. Rest assured people, for this job, you will find it more enjoyable overall let alone accurate to use a scale.

Volume style is the preference for some, that is fine. I’d recommend for noobs though to make it easy go for scales. ELR is perfect for it. That is why I love ELR.

It’s pretty much like everything else, it’s personal preference… and what you feel that works best for you…
I’ve used both methods and have had great results and most of the time when you are making a recipe over and over again, even if it’s on the scale, most of the time I’m not even looking because I know how many drops out of which bottle it needs…

I would not even attempt it by volume. Not accurate at all, I use scales for all kinds of things. Way too finicky otherwise, I can make a batch in like 3minutes tops too easy. To me there isn’t even another way to do it.

If you haven’t attempted to mix by volume then you have no proof of the accuracy of volume mixing.